An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus transmits ultrasound waves to the inside of a subject by using an ultrasound probe having a plurality of ultrasound transducers, and based on the reflected wave (ultrasound echo) from the subject, generates tomographic image data, three dimensional image data, of the inside of the subject, and the like.
There is also a technique called Tissue Harmonic Imaging which generates ultrasound images utilizing the harmonic components (second harmonic components) of the ultrasound waves. This technique performs transmission of the ultrasound waves twice in the same direction, and then causes phase of the first transmission waves and the second transmission waves to reverse. At this time, with respect to that of the first receiving waves, the phase of the fundamental wave components of the receiving waves caused by the second transmission waves is reversed, and the second harmonic components thereof become the same phase. Therefore, when the first receiving waves and the second receiving waves are added together, the fundamental waves thereof are canceled each other, and only the second harmonic components are emphasized (doubled) to output. Thereby, it makes it possible to visualize only the second harmonic components. It makes it possible, for example, to suppress the effects of multiple reflections of the transmission waves by utilizing such the technique.
Further, there is a case that the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus has a configuration such that a power supply is connected to a primary winding of a transformer to apply a voltage thereto, and then ultrasound transducers are driven by the voltage induced in a secondary winding. According to such the configuration, the direction of the voltage applied to the primary winding is switched to reverse the polarity of the pulse induced to the secondary winding.